I think you and RC are on the same page.
I am too, it's just the inconsistency and complete denial around Oliver.
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It's not like it's his first chance either. TT has been given every opportunity and just keeps doing the wrong thing.
He's everything that is wrong with 'bling' footballers. Likes the lifestyle far more than the sport.
I must have missed the articles and commentary in the last 24 hours from those sanctimonious holier than thou media types (hello Andy Maher, RoCo, Caro, etc..) demanding Tarryn Thomas be sacked on the spot like they did ad nauseum with De Goey.
Their ongoing silence on the protracted (and very disturbing) Thomas allegations are further proof (if any more is required) that they are not serious people and should never be listened to.
Has TT been convicted of anything yet???
Ralph: The question is how, not if, North Melbourne rids themselves of Tarryn Thomas
The writing is on the wall, according to JON RALPH: Tarryn Thomas and North Melbourne are through. The only question now is how he and the club go about parting ways.
Arden Street seems certain to be a Tarryn Thomas-free zone next year.
As North Melbourne continues the cultural overhaul it believes will set its premiership foundations, Thomas will not be part of the club’s medium-term future.
The only real query, as the Kangaroos await an official penalty that will wipe out most of his 2024 season, is the exact manner of Thomas’ departure from the club.
Will the terms of that suspension give the Roos just cause to terminate his contract and save them a significant sum in their salary cap for 2024?
Or does he remain on the club’s list while being paid through his suspension, with the possibility the Roos might extract some meagre trade collateral in the October meat market?
All those scenarios lie ahead for North Melbourne, in an era when simply sacking a player is not so easy, given his rights under the collective bargaining agreement.
But what has become clear is that North Melbourne has drawn a line in the sand.
Too many chances, too many opportunities to make good have been ignored.
As the Herald Sun reported last week, the Roos have braced for a lengthy suspension for some time now.
The AFL said on Monday that an 18-week penalty had not been agreed as part of the integrity department process that is ongoing – and the Roos were still awaiting league guidance.
But as part of the well-worn method of punishment meted out by the AFL, almost every suspension is through negotiation or horse-trading.
So as much as North Melbourne says it is not aware of the exact allegations or punishment ahead, it would be the first club to be totally blindsided by an impending ban.
The AFL believes the latest allegations are serious enough to come down hard on Thomas, and if the eventual penalty isn’t 18 weeks, it will be close enough to end his season in any capacity.
Sacking a player given their rights under AFL rules is an incredibly complex situation.
The current allegation against Thomas is not believed to have involved a police complaint, and he escaped conviction after charges were downgraded last year.
Thomas is also due about eight months’ salary of a contract of between $600,000-$700,000 for 2024. So the Roos will have to weigh Thomas’ rights with removing a significant distraction to an entire football club.
The question for the Roos is whether they might have traded him last year when clubs, including Essendon, were interested enough to at least inquire about his services.
AFL clubs have always been seduced by talent – and no doubt one will present to give him another chance in 2025 – but Thomas and North Melbourne breaking up is now inevitable.
During the trade period North were keen to test the market and while there were a couple of teams interested no one was prepared to take the risk. Who know's if Thomas gets his act together if clubs would again consider him but it seems that North is done with him as a player and while they'll offer him support I doubt he will even train with them.
As ordinary a scribe as he is, Jon Ralph is not one of those odious media sycophants I referenced, who all went hell for leather on De Goey off the back of a thrown-out and completely discredited charge off-season in NY and a fleeting consensual incident in Bali (tacky and inappropriate as that was, especially being in-season). Thomas has a history of intimidation/violence against multiple women and these farken media cowards fall completely silent. They should never taken seriously by anybody ever again - it is shameful how these types can be so conditional on an issue as critical as violence against women, giving no commentary on the far more serious Thomas allegations. Thankfully the AFEL (for once and arguably too late) have hit the perpetrator hard in this instance.